Elf Powder Brush

I can't believe this brush was £3.50, it really is gorgeous. I would say that everybody should get this, I can't imagine any reasons why anybody would not love it. It is a flat top synthetic brush. It is very dense for a £3.50 brush and very soft but also firm. I like to use it in 2 different ways. The first is for applying foundation, it is similar to a duo fibre brush and gives that airbrushed look to your foundation, it also makes application very quick as it is quite large. The second is to use it to contour, I just swipe this through my bronzer so that only about 1/4 of the edge of the brush is covered. Then swipe this below my cheekbone and use the whole of the brush to blend it out. This brush would also be great for cream and powder blush or to set your foundation with powder. I defintley want to try more of the elf studio brushes (not too sure about their make up) The next one I want to get in the blush brush, which is rumoured to be great for contouring as well.

          

xx

A Better Value Nectar Thermique?

I have been using L'oreal Studio Hot Straight for years now this is probably my 6th or 7th bottle. This really says something about the product because I am very fickle when it comes to beauty products and rarely repurchase something over and over again. I am not a fan of the spray heat protectants because I find they make my hair go stiff and lacklustre. Cream or milk formulas are definatley the way to go when protecting your hair, if anything it just feels like you are have a leave in conditioner in your hair. My hair feels soft and remains frizz free when I use this. I believe it is around £3.50 in Boots, I have noticed that the packaging has had a revamp and it has a slightly different name 'silk and gloss hot straight'. I purchased my current bottle at the discount price of £1, obviously reduced to make way for the new one. So I haven't tried the new one, I am hoping that the formula either hasn't changed or is even better. It always seems that when you love something they change the formula, to make it worse! 

Anyway as I have just mentioned I am very fickle when it comes to beauty products and I haven't been totally faithful to studio hot straight. I was watching a youtube video by FleurdeForce about her hair routine, the heat defense hair product that she used was kerastase nectar thermique which is for dry to very dry hair and has a 'thermo-protective heat-activated ingredient' which always sounds good to me. As my hair is naturally quite dry and frizzy I never say no to extra moisture. I had always wanted to try some Kerastase hair products because they seem so luxurious and salons use them so they must be good. This RRPs at £17.90 which I wouldn't pay especially as there are so many bargains to be had. I bought mine from activebeauty.co.uk for £13.95 including postage and packaging although if you did a bit more research I think it could be found a smidge cheaper. 

The first few times I used nectar thermique I was disappointed, it wasn't bad infact it was just as good as my beloved studio hot straight, but considering the price difference I expected it to be amazing, for my hair to feel like silk and have a mirror shine. Don't get me wrong my hair was soft and glossy but it just wasn't jaw dropping gorgeous. Both products are made by L'oreal and I did suspect that they were mostly just the same product but in different packaging and with a different price tag. Recently I have been using nectar thermique after every hair wash and I do love it, I think my main problem was that my expectations were too high, sometimes it is better to buy something having not read rave reviews before hand and not have your opinion clouded by other people's. Nectar thermique does feel thicker, creamier and more expensive (I should hope so!) when you run it through your hair but if you don't want to spend that much on the hair product I would highly recommend studio hot straight, I would also say it is better value for money. I think the nectar thermique would be better value at around £9.             

xx

First Elf Haul

Last week I placed my first elf order for the warm bronzer, the blush/bronzer duo, studio powder brush and the eyeshadow brush. I am especially chuffed with the powder brush (review coming up) and I am fairly happy with the blush/bronzer duo and the eyeshadow brush for £3.50 and £1.50 they can't really be sniffed at. The warm bronzer is currently residing on ebay as I hated it. I really wanted to love it though, I had done my research of course and read rave review after rave review about the bronzer. As soon as a got my packaged I ripped it open went straight for the warm bronzer and applied it on my face. Now I am quite light handed when appyling make up and it was dark and all I could see was chunky glitter all over my cheek. I do have issues with glitter on my face I am very sensitive to it there is a fine line between glowy and glitterball. Elf warm bronzer definatley fell in the glitterball category, so onto ebay it went. it currently has 7 watchers which is rising by the day so I am confident it will find a loving home. 

 The blush/bronzing duo on the other hand has earned a place in my blush draw. The blush side however is another glitterball fiend, the colour is a lovely coral/pink but then it has huge chunks of glitter in it which just sit on top of your cheeks. What is wrong with a matte blush I ask you? surely it is not more expenesive to make, it should be cheaper infact if they leave out the glitter. The saving grace of this duo is the bronzer, although I spied glitter chunks in this once swatched onto skin they do not show up at all. The finish is like a pearly glow, like one step down from shimmery but not matte. The colour is quite dark and pigmented which I like (darker than benefit's hoola) because then I don't have to apply as much. I feel like with hoola I have to cake it on to get a good contour. The tone is also perfect for contouring not too warm and orange. I have been using it everyday since I got it and can't believe I have found a great contour powder for £3.50, although I am still curious about sleek's contour kits! could they be even more perfect?

I am not sure how I feel about elf now, there were so many things I wanted about 3 x as much as I ended up ordering as I managed to restrain myself. I was planning to make a second order in the new year and try the mineral blushes, cream eyeliners, eyebrow kit and more of the studio brushes but now I am a little hesitant as cheap as it is the £s do add up quite quickly is it better to just get one expensive item? or 5 cheaper ones?   

xx

Right Now's Ins and Outs

In

- Mac Face and Body Foundation

I love this, makes my skin look all glowy and like I am not wearing any foundation. What more could a girl possibly ask for? plus it comes in a huge bottle 120ml for £22.   

- Clarins beauty flash balm

I am putting this under my face and body foundation to stop my skin looking so drab, dry, tired, wintery. It makes you look healthy and glowy (I am always chasing the glow!) 

- Taupe eyeshadow

Almost eveyday I have been reaching for a taupe eyeshadow to give that suble smokey eye. I think in winter it is okay to go a bit darker with the eye make up. My favourites have been Ruby & Millie taupe which comes in a palette and Rimmel taupe. Mac's Satin taupe is at the very top of my wish list.  

- Boots cucumber face wipes

I have been using these in the morning, some may think that this is lazy, but they just freshen up my skin, wake up my sleepy face and I am not too worried about deep cleansing in the morning when all I have done since the last cleanse is sleep. I prefer the cucumber ones to the blue non-fragrance as the blue ones seem a little rougher. These are currently 3 for £3 in Boots, Bargain!    

- Ankle boots

Ankle boots are my favourite type of boots, they are cute and look great with tights, leggings and skinny jeans. My favourite is to wear a black pair with black tights ot leggings. It looks really chic and the block colour keeps your legs looking long.   

Out

- Cleanser

This is not a particular cleanser on my out list but all of the ones I have ever tried,  I am really struggling to find my perfect cleanser. I don't think I have ever had one that I would repurchase again. My current cleanser No.7 soft and soothed (Which was one of my mum's rejects) just doesn't feel like it cleans my face properly. I want something that gets everything off but is still gentle and not drying. I could possibly be searching for something that doesn't exsist.

- Puprle eyeshadow

I have green eyes and apparently purple eyeshadow makes green eyes 'pop' purple eyeshadow does nothing at all for my green eyes and it makes me look sick, really sick. I actually find that bronze makes my eyes more green which breaks all the colour wheel rules. maybe I am wearing the wrong kind of purples. 

- Snow

The recent snow has only just melted, meaning that it was hanging around for two weeks. Now everything has just gone back to normal more snow is rumoured for next week! I used to love snow as a child but as an adult it really does just make your life more difficult.

xx

Z Palette

After seeing these all over blogs for a few months I decided that I wanted one, and put it on my list of things to buy. A couple of weeks ago it finally worked it's way to the top of my shopping list and I purchased one from love-makeup.co.uk for £14.99.  I chose the large black one. 

 

I had so many single eyeshadows that I rarely used because I tend to reach for my palettes more. Plus they take up a quite a bit of space and I am struggling to contain my make up in its limited storage space. When I first looked at all my eyeshadows to depot I thought there is no way I will fit all of them into my z palette, so I did it one at a time as I didn't want any eyedshadow pans to be left without a home. To my suprise they all fitted in and I bet if I did some shuffling around I could squidge some more in there. 

I wasn't sure if I would need magnets, so I purchased magnetic tape just incase. However it turns out that I could put the pans straight in and the magnetic bottom of the palette had a strong pull and holds them very securely. All but one pan that was, a troublesome No.7 eyeshadow and seemed to have no magneticness so I resorted to my magnetic tape (£1.30 ebay) which did the trick. 

PROs 

- Clear lid so you can see your colours

- Nice selection of designs 

- Strong magnetic hold (no risk of eyeshadows getting loose)

- Having lots of eyeshadows in one place means you can see there potential to go with other colours you possibly haven't thought of 

- good storage solution 

CONs 

- expensive considering it is made from cardboard

- The cardboard is easily damaged (mine already has a scuff from being in the post) so not great for travelling with

- Quite heavy due to the magnetic bottom 

Elizabeth Arden Eight Hour Cream

When I first bought Elizabeth Arden's Eight Hour cream I only imagined that i would use it as a (giant) lip balm, which i did for the first few months. I highly recommend this as a lip balm and it is my favourite use for this product. The moisture lasts a long time on the lips (even longer than my beloved blistex relief cream) , gives a gorgeous glossy sheen and when it finally wears off your lips don't fell drier than before ( I am looking at you Vaseline)

Then one morning I used some on my eyebrows to keep them in place I was a bit heavy handed mind you and ended up with greasy eyebrows when I was more aiming for groomed, but it worked my eyebrows stayed exactly where I told them to all day and even the next day (this may be because I applied a little too much) I have learnt that less is more and use my little finger to dab over my eyebrows before combing them through.

This also makes a gorgeous and very natural highlighter in the same way that some people use Vaseline as a highlighter. Perhaps not a wise choice if you have oily skin but my skin is on the drier side. I just used my fingers to pat a tiny amount on top of my cheekbones and then through to under my brows in that C shape. It gives me a gorgeous glowy look without risking looking like a glitter ball. 

The fourth use I have found I was a little dubious about trying at first and that is putting the Eight Hour cream on my spots. Now when tackling a spot my first form of attack is to dry it out, slapping a greasy dollop of jelly like substance on there is not the way to do that. I had this pesky big red spot right in the middle of my cheek I had tried everything sudocream, toothpaste!, just old fashioned covering with a heavy duty concealer but it still just glowed through. So in desperation I did some sneaky research at work and googled uses for eight hour cream knowing that it had magical healing powers and hoping that spot treatment would flash up as one of its many uses. My prayers were answered and I found several testimonials swearing by eight hour cream for spots. So I skipped home and slapped some on straight away, and then reapplied before bed. When I woke sadly my spot wasn't gone boo! But there was definite improvement, it had calmed down significantly although bad news there was a brand new spot that had popped up further up my cheek. So without hesitating I dabbed on the eight hour cream and by the end of the day it was barely visible! Result! My theory is my original spot had been there for days and had probably grown roots and decided it wasn't going anywhere and that’s why the cream didn't have such an effect. So when I start to feel the first tingles of a new spot I will definitely be reaching for my Elizabeth Arden Eight Hour Cream.

The only negative thing I have to say and you can probably guess what it is... the smell, when I first opened my tub i did get a shock it is a very strong herbally, garden, chemical smell. But do you know what I use this everyday and don't even notice the smell anymore, so I say stick with it it's definitely worth it.   

xx

Would you rather... Tag

Never use mascara again or bronzer again?

I would have to never use bronzer again, i don't use it everyday anyway but if I am wearing makeup I will be wearing mascara even if mascara is the only makeup I am wearing. If i forget to put it on I feel naked or like i have forgotten something major like putting my knickers on! 

Only be able to buy high end make-up or drugstore make-up again?

I would only buy high end, I don't like to be a makeup snob but if I am being honest I suppose I am a little bit. There are some lovely gems to be found in the drugstore but finding them is hard work and you have to try a lot of rubbish before you strike gold.  

Be In Love or Be Loved?

Can I have both? but if I have to choose I think I would rather be loved because to be in love with someone who doesn't love you back would be horrible.  

Go out with chipped nail varnish or unshaven legs?

If I am allowed to wear trousers or tights then I would go out with unshaven legs, but if I am not allowed any leg coverage I would have to choose the chipped nails I've done it before so I can do it again!

Go out with messy hair or no make-up?

Messy hair definatley, my hair is always messy anyway I have given up hope on trying to keep it sleek, frizz free and perfectly in place, clearly it is just the way it is meant to be.  

Leave the house with an orange tan or peroxide-gone-wrong ginger hair?

Orange tan as long as it wasn't streaky. If I had a bad hair dye job I wouldn't leave the house just sit at home and cry! 

It were Winter forever or Summer forever?

I wouldn't like to live in a country where there was not much difference between seasons. I love the sun, summer clothes and being able to spend time outside in the summer but I also love being cosy in the winter with hot water bottles, big jumpers and scarfs. Seeing as I have to make a choice I would choose summer as I complain about the winter more as it is always dark and raining.

Leave the house with dried toothpaste drool or crusty yellow sleep eyes?

i think the crusty sleep eyes would be a lot less noticable than the toothpaste drool.

Give up all MAC or Illamasqua products?

This is a hard one, even though i have only tried a few things from Illamasqua i have loved them all, and they have half price sales which I love and always buys something in them. I have tried more MAC but have not loved everything. My MAC wish list is huge though so i would very reluctantly give up Illamasqua. 

xx